Editor - Mark Yoshikawa, ACE

Mark Yoshikawa, ACE made his return to the HUNGER GAMES universe after an eight-year break to cut the prequel, THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES.  Mark's first experience cutting on the franchise, and for director Francis Lawrence, was on the two-part MOCKINGJAY films.  THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE editor Alan E. Bell ACE reached out to his old friend Mark to enlist his help with the increased workload of the two-part conclusion the Katniss Everdeen storyline.

The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is the fifth film in the Hunger Games franchise and is set sixty-four years before the events of the first film.  It explores the events that eventually lead a young Coriolanus Snow down the path to becoming the tyrannical leader of Panem.  With the tenth annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow becomes alarmed when he's assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird from District 12.  Uniting their instincts for showmanship and political savvy, they race against time to ultimately reveal who's a songbird and who's a snake.

MARK YOSHIKAWA ACE

Aside from his work with director Francis Lawrence on the Hunger Games franchise, the two also collaborated on the feature SLUMBERLAND (2022) as well as episodes of the TV series SEE (2019).  Mark has also cut several films for director Terrence Malick, including: THE NEW WORLD (2005), THE TREE OF LIFE (2011), TO THE WONDER (2012) and KNIGHT OF CUPS (2018).  Mark has also worked on TV series such as SUCCESSION (2018) and WESTWORLD (2016).

Editing THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES

In our discussion with "HUNGER GAMES" editor Mark Yoshikawa ACE, we talk about:

• Keeping pace with a big movie
• Going back to the book for inner monologues
• Taking a page on projectors from Alan Bell
• Bringing back the birds from Mockingjay
• Coming into a scene later and leaving earlier

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